Registration is expected to go live around April 1, and the event will be held from July 18 through 22. The host hotel will be the very accommodating Woodland Country Lodge in Woodland Park, just a few miles up the road from Colorado Springs. Have you ever seen such a view from a hotel parking lot before?

This one will be going for sure!

We are excited to see what this year’s festivities bring. Attendees are slated to attend from various parts of the country, some driving from as far away as Florida. I’ll post updates here as they become available.

Stay tuned next week for a featured review on this 2017 MDX Sport Hybrid which I’ll be putting through its paces on a trip to Utah and back.

Speaking of SUVs, if you’re in the market for something fun and quirky to have a little 4×4 fun with, go look at James‘ Isuzu VehiCROSS, currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer at no reserve! The auction ends on Monday.

It’s one of the most radical designs of the 1990s. Have a great weekend, all!

It’s already time to kick off bidding for next year’s nerdy Legend extravaganza, otherwise known as NALM (the National Acura Legend Meet). The event has taken place for 13 consecutive years now, spanning the country from California to New Jersey and many places in between. I haven’t missed one yet. Here’s a website I’ve been managing the has a few highlights and photos/videos from each of the events.

And to get us in the spirit of things, here’s a blast from the past: A 7-minute video capturing scenes from the event’s first program from May 27-29, 2005 in Dallas, Texas. Special features include a car wash activity, close-ups of some special “custom” Legends, autocrossing action shots, the banquet dinner, and a night out on the town. Check out event organizer Lee Horton getting sideways in his G1 coupe at around 5:30. My coupe had around 171,000 miles on the odometer.

I also happened to come across this video of destruction of a G2 sedan while browsing the ‘Tubes. Watch at your own discretion; it’s a little graphic!

And finally, on a brighter note, check out this video my friend Pat put together of his absolutely stunning 1994 Legend GS 6-speed sedan. Drool-worthy for sure.

Who’s ready for summer? If anybody needs me, I’ll be indoors for the next 3 months.

My friend Alex borrowed my car for a 3,500 mile road trip, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

Most of us have driven a rental or loaner car before. What are your driving behaviors in a rental car as compared to in your own vehicle? Have you ever heard of anyone returning a loaner in better shape than when they picked it up? Now I have.

There’s one car in my collection that rarely goes anywhere. I call it the garage queen for a reason: In 9 years of ownership, I drove it fewer than 20,000 miles. I think it was driven in the rain only twice during that timeframe. It’s garaged, preserved, and babied. Well, that garage queen became a road trip warrior for an 8-day span when my friend Alex flew in from Fort Myers, Florida to take an epic west coast road trip including a visit at this year’s NALM in my 1994 Legend GS sedan 6-speed.

Alex’s route covered 3,495.7 miles and took him through 6 states. His journeys were documented with several GoPro camera clips as well as over 200 high quality photographs. It was truly the trip of a lifetime, and the only thing that could have made it better would be if I had been able to be a part of it with him in person. Experiencing it after the fact through his thorough documentation is the next best thing for me, as well as for all of you!

Alex and his fellow Floridian Alan spent a good chunk of their NALM time perusing the local junkyards for Legend parts. After having been discontinued from production for over 22 years, you can imagine a model like the Legend does not have very robust support for replacement parts. As a result those of us who intend to keep our cars on the road forever have to resort to dumpster diving from time to time. Among the treasures A&A found (and installed) on my Legend GS were:

Master window switch with functional auto-down

‘Beauty bar’ plastic trim cover over front bumper hardware

Uncracked center A/C vent trim

Radio antenna

Upgraded chrome door strikers and matching bolts

Bracket for clutch hydraulic hose

Battery tie-down

Windshield washer fluid cap

When I cut south on Interstate 5 on Sunday, June 11th when NALM concluded in Sacramento, Alex went north in my now “enhanced” Legend GS. He continued on up toward Portland, but he took the scenic route in doing so. Among his stops were the massive drive-thru Redwood tree in Leggett, California called Chandelier Tree and some scenic stretches of Highway 101 in southern Oregon. (Thus the T-shirt!)

Alex took the time to stop for photographs at each state line he crossed. He reported that the car performed near flawlessly. The only issues to note: The speedometer is inaccurate at higher speeds, sometimes reading up to 10 mph faster than actual speed. The rear brakes are squeaking. The radio volume controls from the steering wheel don’t work. And it might be time for spark plugs (last changed in 2009).

But Alex completed his adventure on Wednesday, June 14th after having completed his nearly-3,500-mile road trip. He flew back to Florida later that evening, but not before we took the NSX out for a bite & drink.

Thanks Alex for giving my old car a chance to see some parts of the country that many people will only dream of experiencing! Here are just a few of the photos Alex took & shared with me (posted here in random order), and a short video showing a few GoPro scenes just prior to hitting the Oregon state line.

Alan at the wheel

Alex and Alan about to go junkyarding in the Sacramento area

Arizona state line

Bridge crossing

California state line

Chandelier drive-thru tree in Leggett, California

With me in the rearview!

Me being cheesy!

Lots of rain – thank goodness for those new wiper blades a week before the trip!

Spreadsheet nerd that I am, thought some might appreciate this. It’s a quick & dirty calculation I did the other day to see how many of the 22,401 miles that my car has been driven that *I* have actually driven them.

As it turns out, roughly 1/3 of the car’s mileage accumulation in those last 9 years have been from other people.

I made it home safe & sound from my 13th NALM! Total drive distance, round-trip, ended up being 1,700 miles. The car performed flawlessly — its only need was a one-time top-off of power steering fluid about midway through the trip. I was up and out the door of the La Quinta host hotel at 6:30 on Sunday morning, with a long drive ahead of me.

There were just three stops made that day: Wesley, Buttonwillow, and Palm Desert, California. Each time, I topped off the tank, used the facilities, and grabbed a small snack. I was at my house in Phoenix by 5:30 p.m. – exhausted but feeling satisfied about a very successful weekend.

Departure from Sacramento

Alex sent me this – well on his way to Portland in my Legend sedan, driving through a Redwood tree in Leggett, California.

Meanwhile, it was only a matter of time until I was back in the desert, making my way up the long I-10 grade from Indio to Chiriaco Summit. They always advise people to be careful about overheating here.

The Phoenix city skyline was a nice sight to see after such a long day on the road.

Tucked away until the next adventure!

Here is a short video I put together.

More to come soon, including coverage of an especially monumental ILX milestone. I think you know what it is!

Welcome back to Sacramento. It’s a full-fledged Legend Fest out here, and we’re having the time of our lives. Somehow I slept in on Friday morning until 8:30 in the morning, but I got my act together in time for the caravan roll-out at 10:00 toward Niello Acura in Roseville about 20 minutes east on I-80. The dealership had cleared out some space for us and its employees even came out to participate in the car show judging for awards.

Lunch was at a well-known local spot called Squeeze Inn just down the road. The hamburger came with an encrusted ring of cheese on it. Impossible to eat without going through an entire stack of napkins. After that, I got the chance to drive my friend Chris’ 1994 Legend GS 6-speed that he’s been painstakingly restored on the interior. The car drove great for having 230,000 miles.

We visited my friend Spencer’s dad, Brian, at their dealership on Riverside. Inside it, we found a collection of classic Hondas including a “barn find” 1981 Prelude that I would love to scoop up and restore. We made our way back to the host hotel and then figured out a dinner plan. Ben had done his homework and selected a Chinese place called Frank Fat’s which was just a few miles away, downtown. We piled into just a couple of cars and valet parked both of my Legends in a parking garage next to the restaurant. Luckily, the restaurant was able to accommodate our party of 12 with very little notice. The “family style” entrees went a long way to filling us up.

Saturday morning was the long-awaited annual BBQ, to be held at Miller Regional Park. Steven led the caravan this time and we managed to find a parking area along Marina View Drive that accommodated all 31 Legends which ended up attending. I think 31 sets some kind of record! We had quite a wide variety of cars in attendance — though the colors were pretty monochromatic and we didn’t have a first generation (1986-1990) sedan.

The treat of the day for me was having a special guest appearance by Patricia, who is the original owner of my Legend coupe. She and her husband Paul live about an hour away and we’ve kept in touch for the 14 years I’ve had my car. When I found out that NALM was going to be in this area, I notified her and she ended up coming out to see us which was awesome. Today she’s in a 2010 Lexus IS250 with only 45,000 miles on it, in case anyone was wondering. Also in attendance was my friend Spencer who came over from Roseville in a “Mugen” Civic Si to check us out.

Patricia:

Spencer:

Our afternoon capped off with the awards ceremony and raffle. Larry T ended up taking a haul of trophies home, winning a record 3 categories. I received the “Best OEM” trophy.

All of the awards were fabricated by hand by club member Dani out of real Legend parts, and professionally powder coated. Very cool! The raffle included a NALM first: An entire car being given away. Steven was the lucky winner of a 1994 Legend LS coupe 6-speed in Sherwood Green with over 300,000 miles on it. It runs and drives great! He was thrilled. Buy-in for raffle tickets was only $100 each and I think 6 people participated. Pretty cool feature.

We wandered down to a Mexican place near the hotel called Nena’s Mexican Cuisine later that evening. I think I over-did it with the combination plate but it was tasty! Many have already begun their return trips to home, and I’ll be doing the same early tomorrow. Over and out! 800 miles to come tomorrow, as I return to PHX.

I’ll have a wrap up video to post in the next couple of days as well.

With Dave from Seattle, and his car in the background

Cruising along I-80 eastbound

Niello Acura’s 2017 NSX in Nouvelle Blue

Lineup at Niello

Interior of Larry’s 67,000 mile car

With long-time friend Danny

Popping engine bays

With Ben who’s been a regular at NSXPO & NALM events for many years

Lunch time!

Look at that cheese border!

Visiting my friend Spencer’s dad

Alex and Alan worked hard on my Legend GS: They installed all sorts of goodies for me that they’d found at the junkyard, including chrome door strikers, a trim piece in the engine bay, hood struts, new horn button, new antenna mast, new center vent trim, and much much more. They are awesome!

Roomie James arriving in his rental Sonic turbo

Valeting the coupe at dinner

Crossing the bridge into Discovery Park on Jibboom Street on Saturday

Alex and Alan arriving from their 2nd day at the junkyard

Alan’s straw hat came out!

Dave showing his engine bay with airbrushed flames on the fuel rail covers

I’m at it again! You know this drill – I’ve done it every year since 2005: Hike it across the country in my rickety old Legend coupe, hang out for a couple of days with people who have the same Acura addiction, and come back to reality. We might as well call it a support group or a rehab organization but there’s no doubt about it: I need my annual fix!

This year, California’s capitol city of Sacramento is hosting our group. This marks the second time in recent years that NALM has been held in the Golden State, since our 2014 event centered around the Los Angeles area. Sacramento is a pretty painless and simple trek for me from Phoenix, Arizona: Straight out west on Interstate 10, then hooking up with Interstate 5 northbound. Easy peasy – roughly an 11-hour drive door-to-door from my place.

On Wednesday afternoon, I snuck out of the office by around 2:00 and hit the highway. My only stops were in Quartzsite for fuel and then Palm Desert for a Yoo Hoo beverage and a bathroom break. Miraculously, the freeways on the northern perimeter of Los Angeles were free-flowing and my speed barely dipped below 65 miles per hour all the way until I arrived at my nightly destination at a Motel 6 in Sylmar, right near the intersection of the 210 & 5 freeways.

The car performed phenomenally and I was reminded many times of why I didn’t mind putting 500,000 miles on it. Thursday morning, I cruised up I-5 another 5.5 hours or so, stopping only for a quick Taco Bell breakfast at 9:30 in the morning in Buttonwillow (don’t judge!) and then to use a rest area just prior to the split between Interstate 5 and Interstate 580. By the time I arrived at the La Quinta, the Legend group was already out on the road – bound for Lake Tahoe – so I checked in, left a bag in my room, and went out to do a little sightseeing.

Oh, and one cool thing? My Legend sedan is here too. It was driven up by my friend Alex who flew in from Phoenix on Tuesday evening. So for the third time, that car is attending a NALM that I didn’t drive it to (preceded by Chris’ trip to LA in 2014 and James’ trip to Houston in 2015). It was pretty cool hopping on Highway 50 westbound and being behind my own car!

This evening, that car served as a pizza stand while a few of us congregated in the parking lot to shoot the breeze. Later we rolled over to attendee James’ shop where some were washing their cars. Below are a few more pics as things got underway out here.

Alex arriving at my place in Phoenix Tuesday evening

Headed out to grab a bite in the TL

Alex sent this picture of my sedan at the CA state line bright and early Wednesday

Departing after work

Next stop, the City of Angels

By this time, Alex had arrived in my car and sent this pic

Later that evening, he raced the car

Stopping for fuel in Palm Desert

Big ol’ steer off Hwy 58 in Buttonwillow, CA

“Power Market” in Lathrop, California has a UFO halfway-embedded into its roof,

The interior of the station has the other half of the UFO, as well as a myriad of green aliens flying around in purple saucers near the ceiling

Made it to Sac-Town!

Dave from Seattle brought his immaculate 1994 Legend GS 6-speed

Only 99,350 on the odometer!

Park where I was hanging out this afternoon in El Dorado Hills

Check out that T-shirt! It shows the 1st and 2nd generation, sedan and coupe bodystyles

I made it home, sweet home! While I’m unpacking the car, sorting through junk mail, and doing a load of laundry, I threw together some quick statistics on my 8-day trip from Phoenix to Atlanta and back.

I visited ten unique states. My state crossings were in this order:

New Mexico

Texas

Louisiana

Mississippi

Alabama

Georgia

Alabama

Tennessee

Arkansas

Oklahoma

Texas

New Mexico

Arizona

A few stats:

Total trip distance in 8 days: 4,007 miles

Total gallons of gas: 143.3

Total spent on gas: $360.39 ($40 of which was on a gift card to Love’s)

Average miles per gallon: 27.9

Note that the window sticker for my car states EPA rating of 18 city / 26 hwy

Quarts of 5W30 oil added: 1

Quantity of power steering fluid added: 1 bottle

Detailed gas log below. I always used the highest available Premium fuel – sometimes 93, and usually 91 octane. The cheapest gas was in Jackson, Mississippi.

Here’s an 11-minute video capturing some of the highlights from this year’s event.

This morning’s early border crossing into my home state

Quick stop in Winslow, Arizona. Have you ever heard the song “Take It Easy” by The Eagles?

I recommend listening to it here. The song mentions “standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.”

It was cool to drive past Twin Arrows, but I saw that the trading post is in pretty sad shape nowadays.

And finally, after fueling in Flagstaff, I made my way down Interstate 17 and home!

Almost forgot to show this awesome award for “Best Engine Bay.” The printed material attached to the plaque is leather, almost exactly the same color as my interior. Pretty awesome idea.